Gelbbecht



` eLBit'nenr, of the ctyyconnty, and State of H. State of .New York, and WILLIAM STAEHLE-N,

saine, reference being had to vthe accompanyfof the same in a transverse 'direction'. Fig.;

lplaneindicated by the'liue a." a: of Fig. 2: Fig.

portion-of the leg, illustrating afmodication" 'oftheanklefoinn Y Similar le ters of reference indicate lcorrespending parts in theseveral figures.

Aliinb `in s'nchmanner as "may be desirablev to adapt it to the length of thefnatural limb 'andconformation' ofgthe foot of thel intending Y'i'uga limb to suit-each particular case is to a cost of manufacture. is considerably Vreduced Varr'nle-jnut, byfwhich the movements permitted to the said -joint are 4madel tof'approxi'mate i nearertofthe natural joint'than it does inthe artificial 1egs. hretotbre constructed, such novel construction' `being' 1 yalso fa-pplicableY to;v thewrist and other'jointsof `anartiicialfa'rin"`l flower legni` two *pieces,1B C, theertiticlallimb. struction ofsuclfparts of an'articial limb as is enabled to be adjustedto correspond with are required tofbei'rlgid, of corrugated plate `*me tal,`.'whersbythc limb-can bemade 'of suiiicient 'strength 'with less weight and more duif `roble than .when 4In ade 'of' the materials heretof vfreemployed T. F. ENGELBREGHT, onfnn'w rennes1) n. 'B QEKL -Y l orcnoonnrn, mr..

'PATENT QFFICE.

.fspecinatiqn forming: 'fm1-t omettere rai-.ent no. emana, dated January s, 1863.

New York, and REiNnonn BOEKLEN', ofthe city of Brooklyminthecountyof Kings and `o`f the `latter city, have inv'entedcertain new @andiuseful Improvementsz'inv Artificial Limbs; andfwe'doherebydeclare Vthat lthe following isa. full, clear, and exact'description of 'the ing drawings, forming tion,in'wl1ich'-` f l .Y `Figure -'1 is vaside View' of an artificial-legeonstructed according to our invention. Fig. 21's alongitulinal `section ofthe same fromback `to front." iFig.`f3-is a longitudinal section .part'of thisf sp'ecica- '4 isa horizontal Vsectionjof the samefin the `5 is aside view of a portion of the limbes.V hibitin'g y.a mode of corra-gating it.' Fig.- 6 fis; across-section of'Fig.-5. Fig. 7 represents a 'partly sectional fview' of ithefoot .fand lowerI v This )invention consists in certain provisions furthe adjustment of the Aparts of an artificial ywearer, by which means the necessity'of mak.'

.great extent 4 obviated, and iu consequence the f alpin-"in ,a certain f novel' construction of the' '1 hand' ,sand -it'furtherconsists in the'con.

. relation. to eachother.

'enable others Y tonicke-audapply our ing' lreference to the drawings,

"v-ention, we will proceed 'to describe it with ,A is the upper socket or thigh-piece ofthe leg. B and (l aretwo pieces, w'hich constitute lthe knee, the lower leg, and the npperportion ofthe'ankle-joint, andi) is the-foot. 'The l'partsfA and B are represented 'as made of Vsheetfmetal,'each ofoneormore pieces stamped or otherwise wrought into the requisite shape, and' havingV their edgesunited biy solderingv lwith-hard.solder'.. The `piece C may be-:conmi posed of a piece of `tubing of uniform size,

`long enough to" enter some distancev into the `lower part of the pieceB and `to project some distance-through 'its lower Yend. The .lower part of B .is constructed' to form a socket,- into which -O vlits snugly but easily, and within which itm'aybe rm'lyvs'erewed by meansof the screws ej `The screw. e passes freely through .a hole, k, in the piece B, through 'an `uprightslot, l, in the piece G, and .screws into -a nut,- g, attached to a ring, h, which tits* snugly but'easily' in the piece U to keep the nut in place before the screw is insertedor after it vhas been taken out. The screw f. passes freelythrough@ hole, j, in the piece B, and screws into one of an upright row of tappedholes, a'gprovided in the piece C. 'By screwing up. .the two .screws fe." f tightly the piecen() is firmly vsecured in the piece B. By slackenin'g 1 thescrewaand takingoutthescrew fthe p'iecelJ` ispermitted to be ,moved up and l,down within thepiece B to shorten" `or lengthen the limb j' from" the mkneejoi'nt downward, as illustrated in Fig. '1, in which thelengthening of the .limb is illustrated in redI outline. When the A'pieces Bv C have beenadj ustedto the proper vlengtl'nvthe screw-j' .is insertedthrough the hole ginto the hole i, which is nearest Yto it,

and both screws are' screwed -`upftight1yto 'secure the two; pieces B Q .rmly in proper 'adjustment the. holesifishould be as near to-` gethe'rlfas possible. By i thus. making the the length` ofthe naturalleg. The pieceB is fitted withthe upper part of the front `ot 'partly spherical shape'to form the knee, andv `thefsaid piece is connected with'the' upper piece, A, by means of ajoint-pin, E; tomake EN no W. ernennen,

To provide for this thejointoftheknee. LA. spring, G, is ap.

plied to connect A and i2 for the purpose of straightening the knee-joint, The foot D is represented I asf formed of a shell ot' sheet metal with. a sole. of wood faced with vulcanized indis-ralobenI inthe part where the in step 'is to be formed there is provided an an guiar cavity, -m fn, for the reception ci' a pack mg, p, of wool., raw cotton, or other suitable material, hy which ,it may be built up to maire other construction of the saine,'by which we' are enabled to obtain 4ali the movementsof which the ankle is 'capable in nature.;viz., an

,upward and downward or backward and tot? ward movement, to depress and elevate the toe and heel relatively to the leg, asis always necessary in walking, and which is the only movement commonly provided in articial legs, a lateral movement of the foot, as is illustrated by red outline in Fig. 3, for the foot to accommodate itselt'to any desirable lextent to the surface ot' uneven groundand ahoijizontal, or nearlyhorizontal, movement about an axis nearly coincident or parallel with the length of `the leg, illustrated by the red outline in Fig-4, which, in walking, al

ways takes' place tov a slight extent in the natural ankle, ,the foot being permitted in the last-mentioned movement always to an rive'at'a given normal position when raised -from the ground, and the said normal position being with the toe turned 'more or less outward, as the habit of the wearer may be or may have been with the natural foot.

Figs., 2, 3 show a ballaud-cup joint, of which the ball s is formed on the toot-'and the cupi on the lower part or" the piece C., Thisjoint is held together hy a fork-headed screw holt, l, and a strong spring i, of indiarubher or other material. The spring l is made to connect 4the bolt H with the piece C hy means of a pini' u, passing transversely through the fork-head ot' the boit, both ot' the said pins passing through the spring or having its ends otherwise attached to each of them, and being iitted with rollers to protectl the springs from wearand the said boit is connected with the foot hy means of a nut, H', screwing onto its lower end, 'the said nut serving aiso to pio duce and regulate the tension of pull ot' the springo rlCheball, if made hollow, as represented in Figs. 2 and 3, is made with a deep and strong rigid central socket, v, to hold the rbolt in a steady condition, and the saidsocket v1s connected with the heel or side of the foot in the manner shown in Fig. 2 for the reception ot a setfsc'rew, w, which is iitte'd into a tapped hole therein, for the purpose of securing the toot upon the bolt in such mannerthat vit is incapable of turning thereon. The spring i, when the toot is raised from the ground,

ldraws the holt H to such a position that its' axis if prolonged would intersect the axis of ythe upper pin, u, at right angles, and the said pin is so arranged that when the. bolt is in that 'positionv the toot is in the normal position it isdesired to assume with reference to the leg when oft' the ground, vet it permits the fr upward and downward movement of the and heel,'and the lateral movement illustrated by the red outline iu Fig. 3 in walking; and

'by making the said spring wide, or giving it a long bearing upon the pins u uf, it is valso made to act upon the foot to stop the movement hereiuhefore,described with reference to the red outline in Fig. 4, in such manner that in the normal position the toe is turned inamore or less outward direction, as may he desired, and `vet that in walking,r the said.,

movement is permitted to a desirable eXtent The foot may be adjusted to bring the toe` more or less outward in the normal position of -the foot according to the natural habit of the wearer, or to the position considered most natural or graceful, hy unscrewing. the set- -screw w to-permit the foot to turn on thebolt H independently of the spring I, and after having made such adjustment 'the said set- A screw is again screwed up tightly upon th bolt.

Fig. 7 shows a holland-socket ankle-joint,

ot' which the ball J is composed of the head of an inverted screwbolt, y, screwed rigidlybyv a nut, K, to the bottom ot' the 'piece C, and the socket is formed in the toot, the said socket being made of two pieces screwed together,v and its interior forming a portion of a sphere pushing. spring', L, composed of a piece' or" stout india-rubber tubing, the edges .of -l l which are fitted snugly within annular cavities li i0, formed within the bottom-of the piece C ,and the top of the'foot. This spring, pressing evenly all round between the piece U andthefoot, and being incapable of turning,

has the saine eit'ectn every respect as the ten- .sionspring i in'bringing the foot to its proper f normal position relatively tothe leg. permit the adjustment ot' the foot to'brngthe toe in the more or less outward direction 1u the normal position,l the nut K requires to bel siaolrened, ai'ter which the foot can be turned independently ot` the spring. When the adjustment has been made, it is securedby screw? ing down the nut to secure the bolt rigidly to vthe piece C, To permit the nut to be moved, i

the piece C must be withdrawn from the piece B, which. can be done after slackening the screw e and taking out the screw f. We preferthis lastdescribed construction of the ankle joint in some respects to that ilrst described, though the only superiqrity which it is particularly desirable to mention is that the foot and leg do not lap the one` over the other, but theiredgesare separated and the joi tis made perfectly close by means' of the in ia-rubber rin g which constitutes the spring and preventing theentrance ofdust betweenl them to the interior of the limb.' The distinguishing characteristic of both of these joints, as compared with the'ankle-joint's-of'- other artificial limbs, is that the spring, acting in' combina-tion with the ball and socket, draws the foot t'and holds it in its proper normal condition .without the aid ot" p stops or any other bear-in gs than the ball and socket.

A'joint constructed either like that shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, or that shown in Fig. 7 ,.but more especially that shown inV Fig. 7,

may be advantageously used for the Iwrist orl other jointsof al1 artificial arm or hand. The' thigh ,piece orsocket A has a number of longiiudinal slits, au, in its upper part to', form a corresponding number offlexible prongs, b b, in the edges-of which there-',ar'eprovided eyee lletholes d d for the receptin of laces c c, by

which to'lace them together to make'them fit .closely uponl the stump of the natural leg, 'by

which construction` the said thigh piece' or socket' can be tted tothe `fsize .and form of the said stump, and is also made for'the ventilation thereof.

We propose inthe manufacture'of artificial limbs of metal plate to corrugatethe piece B, `which forms the portion ofthe leg below 'the' knee, and such other portions of an artiicial limb as may bjc..practicableor` desirableftheV length of the corrugationsbeig lengthwise cr the limb, as shown' at 12 12 in Fig. 5, by

which means we are enabledt'o make the limb 4 gated, may and should to provide when made of any other material.

of a given strengthwith less weight4 than l Limbs made of metal, either plain 0r ,corruf preferably be coveredv with leather. l What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by `Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of the two piecesl B and G, which form the exterior of .the lower leg,

substantially as herein describ=ed, for the purpose set forth. e Y

2. The construction of the artificial foot with acavity, m rn, in the place occupied by v the instep ot' the natural foot, .and-with aps -F and a lace,"n, or their equivalent-to receive and confine a packing, p, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

l3. The construction'of the ankle-joint with a. ball and socket or cup and spring combined lto operate substantially' as herein described,

and dispense with the'use of stops'or otherbearings thanthe ball and its socketor cup;

4. 'The construction ofthe joint of an artitcial limb in such manner, substantially as illustrated in'Fig. 7, that the rigid parts connected by the joint do not lap each other, l but leave theopenin g between them protected' v by a surrounding'sprin 0- 5,;T-he construction of the rigiduportions of v, .an artificial limb of plate metal having corrugations the length of which run. lengthwise ofy .the limb, substantially as and for the'purpose' herein specified.

THEO'DORE F. ENGELBREOHT.4

vREINHOLD BOEKLEN. Y e WILLIAM STAEHLEN. Witnesses:`

ANDREW'I. Tom), Hnnwroi: Dones. 

